Journeyman
by Slayer76
Summary: what separates the master from the normal trainer? Masters are just like machines. They have a goal and they hyper focus on that goal, come heaven or hell. Nothing will stand in their way, not even legends...
1. Chapter 1: Origins

In the small settlement of Pallet Town, the town of beginnings and endings, the first ray of morning sunlight filtered into a small child's bedroom. In that room, a boy was wide awake and methodically packing his bags for quite possibly the most important day of his extremely short life. Ash Ketchum was about to leave home and begin his journey as a Pokémon trainer.

But first, he needed to retrieve his starter Pokémon from Professor Oak's lab. Ash idly wondered if the professor would hand out Pokémon this year or if that job would be delegated to one of his assistants.

He picked up his hat and sat it on top of his head, preparing to head out and take the first step towards his destiny. Ash couldn't fight the grin relentlessly tugging at his lips. This was the moment he'd been waiting for for over 8 years. His stomach was tied in knots that would make the Gordian Knot look like the knot used to tie shoelaces.

Ash walked over to the steps and slides down the railing to the first floor. His mother, Delia Ketchum, was in the kitchen making breakfast for Ash and his Starter Pokémon. She knew that this is the last time she'd be able to do this. Her baby wouldn't be expected to come back to Pallet for awhile. Even though she knew that this day would come for longer than Ash had, she wouldn't ever be ready to let him go.

* * *

Ash stepped out of his house and took a deep breath of Pallet Town's clean air. It had the cleanest air out of all the cities in the Kanto region. The fact that it was the least industrialized city in Kanto probably had absolutely nothing to do with it.

A Pidgey landed on Ash's shoulder before releasing a piercing trill, reminding him of something that he forgot because of his own excitement. The bird migrations were happening soon. Most of the young Pidgey and Spearow were getting ready to fly away from Pallet Town in order to get stronger, and explore more than the forest between Pallet Town and Viridian city. At the same time, flocks of Adult Pidgeot and Fearow were returning in order to mate and lay their eggs. 1 of each would stay behind to look after their respective eggs and act as leaders for the new flocks.

Ash brushed down the ruffled feathers on top of the Pidgey's head. He could feel the Pidgey's excitement; he still wasn't sure why he could briefly feel the feelings of Pokémon but he could. Pidgey had been ready to leave Pallet Town ever since he hatched. "It's almost time for you to go, buddy."

Ash had known the Pidgey for 5 years. He was there when it hatched from its egg. He'd make sure to come back to see it when it returned to Pallet Town as a Pidgeot.

Pidgey playfully nipped at his hair before flying away. Ash smiled softly as he looked towards the sky to see Pidgey join his flock.

As soon as the flock flew off further than he could see, Ash started walking towards Professor Oak's lab. He'd made this journey so many times that he could walk the entire route with his eyes closed. It was permanently etched into his memory.

The few shops in Pallet were just starting to open their doors for business. The doors weren't locked at night as the small town had a non-existent crime rate due to everybody knowing each other. It also helped that half the population is old people weary from traveling in their youth.

It wasn't long before he arrived at his destination.

"Crap" Ash whispered as he turned around the corner and saw the crowd around the lab doors. He wanted to get here first. The further back in line you are, the more likely you are to get stuck with a worse Pokémon.

Last year, the guy at the back of the line had to start with a Pichu. Legends say that he never made it out of Viridian Forest. Ash didn't believe that particular legend, of course. He would have made it to Pewter City's gym leader before he hit a stone wall. Even then, he could loop around to Cerulean, and beat that gym with careful planning. If he picked up a water type capable of walking on land in Cerulean, training it to beat Brock would have been easy to accomplish.

It didn't matter what happened to him in the end. All that mattered was that he never came back to Pallet Town and never became a well-known trainer.

Ash didn't want to be that guy. At the end, he wanted to be known across Kanto as a Pokémon master. Winning the conference would just be step 1. After that he'd probably attempt to topple the Elite 4 and Lance then become Kanto's champion. And If Lance proved to be unbeatable at that point, it'd be time to travel around and find a way to reach the champion's level of power. But no matter what happened, he would become the champion of the Kanto region!

"Ash! Ash tree! Are you going to stand there pondering the universe, or are you going to get your Pokémon before I die of old age?" A familiar voice asked, snapping Ash out of his musings. Somehow he had managed to ignore the crowd of kids vanishing 3 at a time.

Ash suddenly found himself standing in the middle of the street by himself.

"Professor Oak, you're actually here. Glad to see you're still able to get out of bed these days." Ash joked as he walked towards the door. Professor Oak was surprisingly active for his age, still doing active field research regularly.

Oak let out a deep chuckle, "These old bones are still good for another 5 years or so. Hopefully Gary or Daisy will take this job before then. I want to enjoy retirement before they try to send me to a nursing home."

"Anyways, what's the odds of me getting a decent Pokémon? I already know all of the strong ones were taken." Ash questioned as he looked around the barren lab.

"Not very good if you wanted to tackle Brock first," Oak shook his head "The only one left is the Pikachu I caught because it was found nibbling on one of the wires outside and sucking out the electricity. It probably increased the electricity bill too. "

Ash sighed, "It's still wild. That makes the job way harder. Well I guess an adventure isn't fun if it's too easy."

"That's the spirit!" Oak said before releasing the Pikachu from its Pokéball.

Ash could feel the Pikachu's displeasure as soon as it rematerialized. It wasn't happy with the new environment at all. Ash stared the Pikachu down as its cheeks started to spark with yellow electricity.

Flinching away is the worst mistake you can make when you encounter a wild Pokémon for the first time. As soon as you flinch, it will attack you. It probably won't try to kill you, that's not how most Pokémon act. Only dark types try going for the kill instantly.

Moments later, the sparks dissipated.

"Hello, my name is Ash. I'm your trainer from now on." Crouching down to eye level with the Pikachu, Ash stretched out his hand.

Smack

The Pikachu spun 180° and slapped his hand with its tail. Because of this, Ash noticed that this was a male Pikachu.

"Well now that you have your Starter, let me go grab your Pokédex." Oak stepped into the backroom of his lab. The Pokédex was a trainer's most valuable tool. It gave you info on every Pokémon in Kanto, taught you how to raise them, and also served as a Trainer's ID.

"You don't like me" Ash stated as he looked at his new Pokémon ( who still had his back turned towards Ash). This prompted Pikachu to vigorously shake his head side to side.

"Is it because I didn't battle you?" Ash had heard about this before. Pokémon tend to disobey Trainers that haven't earned their respect, which is typically done by battling them and catching them if you win.

Pikachu nodded.

"So, if I use another Pokémon and beat you with that one, you'll help me?" Ash questioned.

Pikachu nodded, slightly more reluctantly.

Ash smiled. This Pikachu was as good as beaten once he borrowed Professor Oak's Ninetales.

The Pokémon Professor came back into the room.

"Ah, here you go Ash." Oak said before depositing a red and blue Pokédex with a yellow stripe down the middle separating the other two colors. He was also holding a black belt that was designed to hold Pokéballs.

"Thanks. Hey Professor, can I borrow your Ninetales?" Ash asked, gesturing towards the giant ball of golden-white fur in the corner. Ninetales was Professor Oak's oldest partner. That is, it was literally the oldest Pokémon that Professor Oak had. A healthy Ninetales could live for over a thousand years. If the good professor was telling the truth, this one was about 8 centuries old.

"She wouldn't say no, what do you need her for?" Oak responded. His Ninetales was quite fond of Ash, probably because he spent so much time at the lab and Corral as a kid and would give her leftovers from the previous night's dinner whenever he came.

"Pikachu says that he won't work with me unless I beat him in a battle." Ash replied as he walked up to her and started petting her thick, glossy fur coat.

"I was afraid of that happening. It's a good thing you figured this out now, otherwise you'd have to figure out a different way to make this fellow work with you." Oak commented while looking at Pikachu, who was still refusing to face Ash.

"Wake up Ninetales, I need your help," Ash begged while patting her on the head. Ash heard a rumble from the Fox Pokémon. It sounded like she was about to finally wake up!

Her 9 beautiful tails rose up…

_PPPPPFFFFFTTTTTTTTTT_

"Come on!" Ash exclaimed while tightly pinching his nose. Ash would later swear that he heard Pikachu laughing behind his back.

Professor Oak's Ninetales finally decided to stand up and face Ash. When she did, Ash could feel the waves of displeasure rolling off of her. She really didn't like being woke up.

"Can you help me? Pikachu is being stubborn." Ash asked while pointing at the yellow rodent, intentionally triggering her maternal instincts.

After all, stubborn children must be punished.

The Fox's red eyes started to glow maliciously as she trotted over to the mouse, wrapped it up with 2 of its 9 tails, and ran to a new room before it could put up a fight. This room led to the entrance of the place where Trainers kept their extra Pokémon.

As soon as they exited the lab, Ninetales tossed Pikachu into the air and spat out blue fire.

* * *

5 minutes passed before a plume of smoke entered the lab, which was followed by Pikachu stumbling out of the room while waving a white flag. His fur was singed and caked with dirt, but he didn't look hurt too bad.

"Will you help me now?" Ash smirked, tapping his foot against the white tiles on the floor.

"Pika" Pikachu groaned before nodding.

"Good, now get in the ball." Ash pointed at the Pokéball, getting a firm refusal from the Pikachu. He picked up Pikachu's Pokéball and clipped it to his belt, "Fine, get on my shoulders."

Pikachu leapt up on to Ash's shoulders and they started walking towards the exit. This action was prevented from being completed by an orb of blue light appearing in the doorway. Once the light dissipated, it was revealed to be an Alakazam with blue glowing eyes and an egg case, covered in blue energy, floating behind it. Ash noticed that it was also wearing a green and white hat on its head.

"Delivery for Professor Oak!"

The psychic intrusion forced Ash to hold his head. It felt like it was screaming directly into his brain!

"Ah. I was wondering when this egg would arrive." Professor Oak replied as he grabbed the egg out of the air.

As soon as Oak had a firm grip on the egg, Alakazam teleported away.

"So, what's with the egg? Ash asked, his curiosity clear in his voice.

" For the past 3 months, Professor Elm has been researching Pokémon in an attempt to figure out why some Pokémon come out a completely different color than the rest of their sisters and brothers. This led to him having an abundance of eggs in his Lab, that haven't hatched yet. He already has quite a few specimens to study, so the extra eggs are being shipped off to other Pokémon Professors for them to keep." Professor Oak explained.

"So what are you going to do with your egg?" Ash inquired.

"Give it to you." Oak replied, pushing the eggs case into Ash's arms as he did.

"Why?" Ash asked, repositioning his body to accommodate the extra weight.

"I study the relationship between humans and Pokémon, now I have the perfect opportunity to observe how baby Pokémon attach themselves to their Trainer and the other Pokémon in the group." Professor Oak replied before ushering him out the door "You're already late, your mother is waiting for you."

* * *

"He's so adorable!" Delia squealed while tugging on Pikachu's cheek. He was swiped off of Ash's shoulder as soon as he stepped through the door.

Meanwhile, Ash sat on the other side of the table, stuffing his face with food in an attempt to hide the smirk on his face. The Aura of embarrassment emanating from Pikachu was music for his soul.

After gulping down an entire glass of "Orange Juice!: The Champion's Drink of choice," Ash grabbed his bag and his egg, kissing his mother goodbye as he rescued his partner.

"Let's go, Pikachu!" Ash shouted as he burst out of the house.


	2. Chapter 2: Ash vs Gary

Ash and Pikachu walked towards the edge of Pallet Town with their heads held high. Well; Ash walked. Pikachu was still riding on Ash's left shoulder.

"Oh yeah, I never scanned you" Ash crouched down to safely release the egg from his grasp. While he did this, Pikachu jumped off of his shoulder.

He stood back up and whipped out his Pokédex.

"Pikachu: the Mouse Pokémon. When several of these Pokémon gather, their electricity could build and cause lightning storms. (These storms are known to attract Electabuzz that are prepared to evolve.) This Pokémon has electricity-storing pouches on its cheeks. These appear to become electrically charged during the night while Pikachu sleeps. It occasionally discharges electricity when it is dozy after waking up. If it's not getting enough sleep, it will only be able to use weak electricity."

"Remind me to not fall asleep next to you" Ash said, before continuing to read.

"This Pikachu is male, and knows the moves: Tail Whip, Growl, Quick Attack, Thunder Shock, and Reversal."

The last move caught Ash by surprise. Pikachu had an egg move. Unfortunately, this move required Pikachu to take damage before he could use it to strike.

"You're just full of surprises, aren't ya?" Ash remarked as he picked up the egg and Pikachu hopped back onto his shoulder.

Smug satisfaction was rolling off of Pikachu in waves.

They kept walking until they passed the last building in town, when Ash got the weird urge to look up as a feeling of boredom popped into existence and popped out of existence 3 seconds later. As he tilted his head, he saw the silhouette of a Pokémon flying not too far from the treetops. It's wings were huge!

Ash was mesmerized by this sight. He didn't even notice that Pikachu was frantically tugging on a tuft of his hair. Ash just kept staring at the bird Pokémon until he saw something fall past his eyes. It was a feather… that was flashing between red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.

"This must belong to that bird" Ash reached down to pick it up, despite Pikachu's attempts to dissuade him. As soon as his right hand clasped the feather, Ash felt a sharp pain in his hand. He let out a short yell before looking down, and saw that his hand was bleeding. He also noticed that the strange feather was now nowhere to be seen.

He pulled up his glove and saw a thin horizontal cut across his hand.

Ash reached into his bag with his left hand and pulled out a Band-Aid. It would hopefully slow down the bleeding long enough for him to get the wound disinfected at the Lab.

* * *

"You leave for an hour and you already get injured." Professor Oak said as he examined the wound. Ash had told him about the feather that disappeared after cutting him.

"There's only one bird we know of that has feathers capable of changing between 7 colors on a whim. Ho-Oh."

This confused Ash, "Why would Johto's Beast Master be on this side of the mountain?"

Suddenly, Ash's palm started to itch. There was a pale blue glow where the cut was made.

"Who knows, but it can't mean anything good. The Legendary Pokémon haven't actively moved from their resting places since I was a little boy." Oak replied as he grabbed a pair of silver tweezers. He could see the feather now, time to extract it.

"So, where did the other birds go?" Ash asked in an attempt to distract himself from the cold metal inside his hand.

Oak saw no harm in telling Ash the truth. It's not like Legendary Pokémon existing was a secret. Confirmed Locations on the other hand, were kept away from public knowledge.

This didn't extend to Moltres though, as the League wasn't worried about anybody capturing it. Nobody would be dumb enough to challenge a godlike Fire-type in a pit of lava; nobody was strong enough to do it. Not even Lance.

"According to the stories, Moltres hid in volcanoes. Articuno and Zapdos just disappeared, nobody knows where they went." Oak answered as he grabbed the feather and yanked it out.

"Gah, why did that hurt so much! It's just a feather." Ash screamed, jerking his hand away from Professor Oak in the process.

"It looks like it doesn't it? But this feather isn't the same as one you'd get from a common Pidgey. Look"

Professor Oak let go of the feather and it shot towards Ash again.

"It's alive"

This time, it harmlessly attached to the back of his ungloved hand.

"One legend about Ho-Oh, talks about a rainbow wing. It was used to mark people that he found interesting. One more thing, The legend also said something about a tower, but I can't remember the name. I guess old age is finally catching up."

Ash was shocked by this, "Why am I interesting?"

"Another legend claims that Ho-Oh only seeks out the pure of heart. Maybe that's why." Oak guessed as he sprayed the wound with a modified potion before bandaging up the affected area. The last thing Ash needed was to have something slip into the cut at the last moment.

"Hear that Pikachu, I'm special. Bet you're really glad I'm your trainer now" Ash said with a grin stretching across his face.

Pikachu wasn't as happy as his Trainer. Every Pokemon instinctually respected and feared the Legendaries, but they also knew that being singled out by a Legendary wasn't necessarily a good thing.

Ash put his glove back on, its leathery exterior hiding the fact that the interior was soft and comfy on his tan skin.

* * *

Soon enough, Ash, Pikachu and his shaking egg were back on the road to Viridian City. There were wild Rattata scurrying across the forest floor, making Ash really glad that Pikachu was on his side now.

Ash was thinking about how to train Pikachu. The species wasn't known to be very bulky, so tanking hits wouldn't be the best strategy after Brock's gym. The only way Pikachu would beat Onix into submission was by using Reversal. But Ash wanted another strategy just in case.

Speed and agility.

If Pikachu could evade Onix for long enough, Onix would be too exhausted to do anything. It would be unable to battle, and Ash would win by forfeit.

It'd be cheap victory, but a victory nonetheless.

"Look who it is, it's Ashy-boy" a familiar voice said from somewhere in the forest.

"What do you want Gary?" Ash groaned. It was a redundant question. The only reason Gary would be waiting for him is if he wanted to battle.

"A Pokémon battle" Gary answered as he released his Pokémon. In a flash of red, Gary's Starter Pokémon materialized by his side.

"I knew you'd pick Squirtle," Ash smirked "You always did like to choose the easy route."

"Why make the journey harder than it has to be?" Gary responded "I want to get far away from here as fast as possible."

Pikachu hopped down, eager to fight. On the other side, Gary's Squirtle was having a mini panic attack.

"I know we haven't had a chance to practice yet, but I know you can beat him." Ash whispered to Pikachu.

"If you're done giving the mouse a pep-talk, we can start our one-on-one battle." Gary commented.

The Trainers backed up, leaving their Pokemon to square off. Pikachu was down on all fours with electricity sparking from his red cheek pouches. Squirtle was crouching down, ready to retreat into its shell at a moment's notice.

"Get in close with Quick Attack!" Ash shouted.

Pikachu's body was glowing white as he sprinted towards his foe. Ash could barely follow Pikachu with his eyes.

"Dodge and soak the ground with Water Gun!" Gary commanded.

Squirtle narrowly dodged the white blur and he started to spew water across the forest floor.

Ash narrowed his eyes, "Just what are you planning Gary?" That's when he noticed Squirtle starting to sink. The dirt below him had become oversaturated with water and turned into mud!

"Now retreat into your shell and use Water Gun" Gary ordered.

"So that's your plan" Ash thought to himself, the mud was there to reduce friction. Now there was a red shell chasing after his Pokémon. "Pikachu, Jump into the air and use Thunder Shock."

Pikachu launched himself into the air and switched from channeling Pure energy to producing electricity.

As soon as Squirtle reached his previous position, Pikachu unleashed six thin bolts of electricity, but only two hit the intended target. The two shocks weren't weak, especially when considering the opponent, but not a lot of damage was done to the tiny turtle Pokémon.

"You fell right into our trap, the mud coating Squirtle's shell will protect him from most of your Pikachu's electricity." Gary said mockingly as Pikachu landed on the ground, his legs swept from under him by Squirtle's shell.

Squirtle fired Water Gun again, turning himself around. Pikachu was hit before he could regain his footing.

Squirtle fired Water Gun for the 3rd time, spinning himself around. Pikachu was hit once again before he could find his balance.

This continued for several minutes until Pikachu got fed up with this and his body became wreathed in red energy. He smacked the speeding shell with his tail, sending it careening into a tree.

"So, that's Reversal" Ash said with a dumbfounded expression on his face

Pikachu lunged towards the stationary target and latched onto the shell that had now come to a total standstill despite all the thrashing it had been doing not so long ago.

"Good thinking Pikachu, now hit him with a full power Thunder Shock!" Ash's Pikachu has a smirk on his face now. His cheek pouches start sparking with yellow electricity.

Gary's eyes widened, "Shake him off!" he sounded frantic at the idea of his Pokémon taking a point blank electric-type move. That thin layer of mud wouldn't protect him from that! Squirtle popped out of his shell and stood on shaky legs as he started to try to pry Pikachu off of his back. He eventually tried to retreat into his shell and use a quick burst of Water to knock him off.

But it was too late.

Just like that, everything ended with a yellow flash and a boom.

Both Trainers were forced to cover their eyes due to the light's intensity.

The crash of thunder dried up the mud in the immediate area and made a huge plume of smoke.

Silence filled the area as the smoke took awhile to clear, but when it did, Gary's and Ash's jaws dropped.

It was a double Knockout.

Squirtle was wedged into the ground and covered in burns. Meanwhile, Pikachu's body was smoking and he was knocked out with his head pressed against a tree. The sudden stop must have sent him flying forward.

"You did good Pikachu. Take a rest" Ash whispered as he sat down the egg that was still shaking in its case and pulled out Pikachu's Pokéball. Ash returned Pikachu to his Pokéball. He couldn't carry him and the egg at the same time. Plus, that head smash could have done internal damage, which would turn into a major problem if he wasn't put into stasis during the trip to the Pokémon Center.

"So, this is a draw" Gary stated as he returned Squirtle to his Pokéball.

While picking up the egg case containing the violently shaking egg, Ash denied this. "Squirtle went down first. It should be my win."

"It doesn't matter, when nobody is left standing, it's a draw!" Gary vehemently refuted Ash's claim.

They continued to go back and forth about this issue, unaware of the looming danger.

Suddenly Ash dropped to one knee as a wave of rage flooded his senses.

"We better run!" He shouted while pushing himself into a standing position.

"What's coming?" Gary asked. He had known about Ash's crazy sixth sense for years and has learned to trust it.

"A lot of rage, its probably that Spearow flock Professor Oak warned us about." Ash sprinted towards Viridian City, with his egg in tow. Gary quickly followed after him, catching up effortlessly.

"This is your fault Gary, the battle drew their attention!" Ash blamed him before speeding up again.

"Pikachu is the one who made the bright flash!" Gary rebuked, speeding up as well.

""Yeah, because you challenged us to a battle" Ash reminded him.

The Spearow's cries were starting to get louder. Which probably meant they were getting closer.

Ash made the mistake of looking back.

He really shouldn't have done that.

20 Spearow all flapping their wings in sync, and they were gaining on them!

"We aren't going to make it!" Ash shouted. He could've sworn that he had just seen a couple birds use agility.

"Quitter talk," Gary huffed, starting to slow down.

Ash hadn't slowed down at all, but you could clearly see the sweat pouring down his face. His right palm was starting to glow pale blue again. That blue aura quickly enveloped Ash's body.

"Ash, you're glowing!"

"You think I didn't notice my vision gaining a blue tint?" Ash asked. "I have no idea what it does, though."

He didn't notice that he was picking up speed again.

"Maybe you can fire an energy blast and save our lives" Gary suggested.

"This isn't a Saturday morning cartoon. I can't just reach out my hand, think about shooting a ball, and expect that I'll shoot something at the Spearow" Ash thought, shrugging as he did. He shifted the egg into his left hand.

Trying never killed anyone.

"If this doesn't work, I'm jumping down into the river." Ash said before turning around, running backwards and thrusting out his hand. "FIRE!"

You could imagine his shock when a marble-sized orb of pale blue energy shot out of his hand.

"Holy crap" Gary gasped as the orb hit a Spearow, exploding on impact.

Both of them slowed to a stop, but for different reasons. Ash was dead tired after firing that orb. Gary was out of breath and was greedily gulping down air.

The smoke disappeared as fast as it had appeared. Ash wasn't happy about what he was seeing. There was a bright white light sitting in the sky

"I think we just made that Spearow evolve out of sheer anger." Ash muttered.

"Let's not stick around to find out how mad it is." Gary said before a gust of wind smacked into the nearly evolved Fearow.

Looking behind them, Ash saw a sight that made him want to scream in joy.

A flock of Pidgey.


	3. Chapter 3: Farewell, Team Rocket

Ash and Gary slowly made their way towards Viridian City, leaning on each other to maintain their balance. The shrieks and cries of birds began fading into the distance once they had reached the city's border. Lucky for our small town boys, Viridian City wasn't very different from Pallet Town in design. There were just 4 more buildings in addition to a Gym and Pokémon Center.

The Pokémon Center was ironically at the Center of the city.

"Are we just going to ignore the fact that you have super powers? Gary asked, leaning against the side of a house to catch his breath.

"I was honestly planning to. I didn't ask for any of this. This was supposed to be a normal journey across the world. One of adventure and self discovery. If I knew more weird stuff would start happening as soon as I left home, I would have brought body armor with me and grabbed enough max repels to last me until Cerulean City," Ash replied as he slid to the floor.

"You can't just ignore your aura powers! They're part of you, even if you don't want them," Gary had always been the more scholarly one in their group, a fact helped by the fact his family was rich enough to buy books from all over the world and his guardian was a Pokémon Professor. Otherwise, he never would have been able to recognize that marble sized attack as an aura sphere.

The Pokémon famous for that move wasn't native to Kanto or Johto after all.

"I can and I will, it's not like I have a way to learn how to use them. Even if I did, why would I? My Pokémon would be more than enough to protect me," Ash naively responded as he began to rest his head against the egg case. His eyelids were starting to feel heavy.

Before he could even attempt to resist the temptation of sleep, he blacked out.

* * *

It was the middle of the night when Ash awoke in a new environment.

"Gary must have dragged me here after I blacked out," Ash rationalized to himself as he looked around the room. His egg was on the floor next to the bed. For some reason, Gary had pulled the egg out of its case and had placed it on a pillow.

Ash stared at the egg and noticed the cracks at the top. It was surely getting ready to hatch soon. Gary must have expected it to hatch while Ash was sleeping.

Ash made a mental note reminding himself to thank Gary for his foresight. Eggs weren't supposed to hatch inside of their cases. If the Pokémon was too big it would shatter the glass and receive abnormal amounts of damage. It was a widely accepted fact that most Pokemon with scales couldn't afford to be hurt for the first week after their birth as their scales needed time to toughen up. The only exceptions to this are dragon types. Pokemon with soft fleshy exteriors generally needed 2 weeks for their bones to harden enough for them to participate in battles.

That's why most Trainers would focus on getting their Pokémon used to feeling and manipulating their element/energy for those 1-2 weeks.

Pikachu was at the foot of Ash's bed, snoring and drooling all over the covers.

Ash sluggishly shuffled towards the light switch, but when he flicked the switch nothing happens. He flicked it up and down again just to make sure.

Something wasn't right here.

"Pokemon Centers have 7 separate generators, there's no good reason for one of them to have a power outage," Ash whispered as he shook Pikachu. "Get up; danger is lurking somewhere in these halls."

Pikachu rolled over, showing clear signs of being almost awake.

Taking a couple steps back, Ash called for Pikachu one more time. He remembered what the Pokèdex said about discharges after waking up. The last thing he needed was to be disabled by an electrical pulse.

Pikachu woke up and discharged electricity at Ash. Ducking moments prior, Ash turned around to see the attack hit the door.

"Great job Pikachu, those doors lock if the electric current running through them gets cut off," Ash praised while scratching behind his ear. There was a button under the front desk that could cut the power off to everything but life support systems, which was only pressed when a threat managed to enter the premises.

"Stay here and keep your unhatched sibling safe, no matter what. The last thing we need is for their birth to be interrupted by an interloper with nothing better to do," Ash whispered as he slowly opened the door and crept into the hallway. He closed the door behind him to avoid tipping the intruder off to the fact that someone else was mobile.

Zero visibility isn't an ideal situation for a normal human, but Ash was prepared for this. He hugged the right wall as he pushed forward so that anybody walking past him would brush up against him instead of causing a head-on collision.

He didn't head towards the front desk. The only things worth stealing from this place were kept in the back rooms. One back room held all the Pokémon that had been formally abandoned. The other had all the Pokemon that got healed, but hadn't been collected yet.

In his gut, Ash knew that Pokémon were what the invader was probably after. Pokemon Centers didn't keep money in the building.

* * *

Ash managed to reach the back rooms without incident. He pushed against the wall while feeling around for the doorway. After a couple seconds, he felt his thumb curl around a corner.

"Bingo, an open door," Ash thought to himself as he ceased his movements. He heard one set of feet walking towards the door.

"Oh, it's just you," a female voice whispered before she sighed in relief, "put this on."

Ash was suddenly surprised by an added weight in his hands. He felt around and came to the conclusion that it was a pair of goggles. It had two straps to help it stay on his head.

After Ash put it on, the woman who gave Ash the goggles pushed a button on the side to turn it on. This button activated the Night Vision function and illuminated who Ash could now tell was the nurse of the Pokemon Center.

"Thanks, Nurse Joy," Ash said while walking into the room, " what's going on?"

"A group of poachers by the name of Team Rocket tried to enter the building, but I delayed them by shutting off the building's power and rerouting it to the Emergency Teleportation System. Now, I'm getting ready to send all of these Pokemon to an underground storage facility. I just finished hooking every Pokéball up to the transporter. If I don't input the code to bring them back within the next 24 hours, they'll be teleported to another Pokemon Center for storage," Nurse Joy explained as she pressed a button on the side of a machine. The machine started to hum as every Pokéball in the room began to glow a pale blue. Thanks to this, the room was bright enough for the occupants to see without their goggles on.

Ash turned towards the door while taking off his goggles. If the intruders were close, they'd see the blue light and come running.

This turned out to be a great idea, because as soon as he did it, two people and one Meowth walked into the room.

The man had blue hair, while the woman had gravity-defying hair that was also magenta.

Woman: "Prepare for trouble!"

Man: "Make it double!"

Woman: "To protect the world from devastation!"

Man: "To unite all people within our nation!"

Woman: "To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

Man: "To extend our reach to the stars above!"

Woman: "Jessie!"

Man: "James!"

Jessie: "Team Rocket, blast off at the speed the speed of light!"

James: "Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"

Meowth: "Meowth, that's right!"

"Did that Pokémon just talk?" Ash thought as he instead prepared to run, "these guys are weird."

"Step away from those Pokémon, they belong to the boss," Jessie demanded.

"Not a chance!" Ash yelled as he ran toward the Team Rocket members with a fist pulled back. Unbeknownst to Ash, his arms and legs were cloaked in a pale blue aura.

He closed the distance before they could prepare any resistance. The fist buried itself in James' stomach and he fell to his knees.

James grunted before attempting to punch Ash in the stomach.

This was foiled by Ash grabbing his arm and throwing him at Meowth.

"This twerp is way too strong for a kid his age," James thought as he crashed into Meowth.

"Get off of my tail!" Meowth screamed, tears streaming down his face.

"Get a hold of yourselves, we have a job to do. Go Ekans!" Jessie ordered as she tossed a Pokéball into the air.

Ash leapt into the air and caught the Pokéball before it could open. He hit the shrink button to disable the inner mechanisms that would allow the sphere to open and release the Pokémon contained within it. Ash followed this by pocketing the Pokéball and axe kicking Jessie's head.

"Why won't you give up? I'm not going to let you release your Pokémon and it's clear you can't take me in a fist fight." Ash taunted while standing over Jessie.

Jessie looked up at Ash's face, but couldn't make out many of his features because of the light created by the Teleportation System. All Team Rocket could see was a silhouette and Ash's glowing blue eyes.

"G-G-Get away from me!" Jessie shrieked, crawling away from Ash.

The pale blue light from the machine vanished, taking every Pokéball with it.

"What's wrong, see a ghost? Or are you afraid of a little kid?" Ash spit while slowly plodding after her.

"You're no kid. You're a monster!" James yelled.

"Ouch, you hurt my heart. I'm not a monster. You are. You tried to steal from innocent children and do who knows what with the Pokémon. Do you want to know what I really am? I'm the guy who keeps the monsters up at night," Ash responded before releasing a deep guttural laugh.

All those acting classes his mom signed him up for as a kid had really helped Ash learn how to ham it up when he needed to.

"I suggest that we retreat," Meowth uttered before running away with his hands up.

James and Jessie followed behind the scared cat almost immediately.

Ash never felt threatened by the intruders, not even for an instant. He was in complete control of the situation. Fear never had a chance to creep into the back of his mind.

"Thanks for your assistance, I am forever in your debt," Nurse Joy said. "Officer Jenny wouldn't have made it in time."

"Wait, when did you call the police?" Ash questioned. How would she have time to cut the power, make that call, and get all the way back here to send away the Pokémon? This Center wasn't small.

"Cutting the Power to the Pokémon Center triggers a silent alarm and sends an alert to the local Police department," Nurse Joy explained.

Officer Jenny sprinted into the room and skidded to a stop, completely out of breath, "We… caught 2 members.. of… Team… Rocket… fleeing the… area. God… I need to work on my cardio."

"Good. And they didn't manage to get a single Pokémon thanks to our little hero here" Nurse Joy smiled as she ruffled Ash's hair.

Ash rememberd that he stole one of their Pokémon and reached into his pocket to grab the ball, "I snagged one of their Pokémon before they retreated."

He handed it to Officer Jenny, who took it without a second thought. Team Rocket's Pokémon are typically too dangerous for the average trainer to handle. They're trained killers, not battlers.

"I'll inform the league that Team Rocket is stirring up trouble in this part of Kanto. And I'll also tell them about your heroic deeds. They'll reward your actions, but I don't condone unnecessary risks. So; next time something like this happens, don't get involved. It's okay to let the adults handle it. Team Rocket is a serious threat and they aren't against child murder," Office Jenny said softly.

Ash reluctantly nodded. He knew that he shouldn't seek out trouble with any gang.

After seeing that her message had gotten through to him, Officer Jenny left the room.

* * *

Ash yawned into his hand as he walked towards the door to his room, "Glad that's over. I need another hour of sleep."

Nurse Joy had just rerouted the power back to the lights and doors moments ago, so Ash could actually enter his room now.

He opened the door, cut on the lights, and saw an adorable sight.

Pikachu was entertaining the newly hatched Cleffa by repeatedly knocking a Pokéball into the air with the flat side of his tail.

Ash looked around, noticing that the egg shards were in a nice and neat pile by the trash can. Pikachu was too short to put the garbage in the can.

"Looks like Pikachu is warming up to that sibling idea," Ash thought from the doorway as he watched his partner with a smile on his face. This is exactly what he wanted his team to be, a giant family.

Since Cleffa hatched already, Ash figured they might as well start training right now. Sleep could wait until nighttime.

Ash whistled to gain Pikachu's attention, "we're done here. The threat is gone and the sun will rise in less than an hour. It's time to start training your speed and accuracy. You should be able to hit just about anything by the time we're done."

Pikachu sighed at the interruption while simultaneously smacking Cleffa's Pokéball towards Ash's outstretched hand. He also picked Cleffa up to carry him over to their new Trainer.

Dropping to his knees, Ash started talking to the newest member of the family, "Hey Cleffa, welcome to the team. My name is Ash Ketchum, I'll be your Trainer from now on. Did Pikachu tell you about what happens next?"

Cleffa made an attempt at nodding and Ash felt waves of excitement emanating from Cleffa.

Ash lightly tapped his Pokéball against Cleffa's head.

"Let's go, Pikachu" Ash said, prompting Pikachu to leap onto his shoulder. He grabbed his bag and began his journey out towards the route between Pallet Town and Viridian City.

* * *

Ash led Pikachu to a clearing that wasn't too deep into the forest.

Ash scanned the ground looking for the smallest stone in the area. Fifteen minutes of searching came to an end when Ash found a round stone that was smaller than his fingernail. He picked it up and tossed it towards a patch of dirt without any grass growing there.

"Okay, the first step of your training is improving your accuracy. That pebble is going to be your target. Work until you hit it with a every bolt of electricity you fire. As you do this, we'll reduce the number of bolts until you start firing a Thunderbolt."

Pikachu nodded before putting some distance between him and his Trainer.

"Okay, let's take a look at Cleffa," Ash whispered as he enlarged the Pokéball.

In a flash of light, Cleffa rematerialized in front of Ash, who had already pulled out his Pokédex.

"Cleffa: the Star Shape Pokemon. On. nights with many shooting stars, Cleffa can be seen dancing in a ring. They dance through the night and stop only at the break of day, when these Pokémon quench their thirst with the morning dew. It is believed that Cleffa come from outer space on a meteor, which is used to explain why they have a strange fascination with Minior. They remind them of home."

"What's a Minior?" Ash asked, not expecting the Dex to display the words "Data blocked, acquire national dex for information about Pokémon not native to Kanto or Johto."

"This Cleffa is male and knows the moves: Metronome, Charm and Pound."

"Alright, let's get you used to accessing your power Cleffa. After your body finishes settling, we'll start training." Ash said as he slid his Pokédex back into his pocket.

Cleffa cried happily and bounced upwards in excitement before he started to glow pink.


	4. Chapter 4: Shadow Pokémon

"You guys are doing great, I'm really proud of the effort you guys are putting in," Ash said as he picked up Cleffa.

After 2 long weeks of intense training, he had finally learned how to quickly tap into his fairy and normal energy for techniques. Soon Ash would get him started on the physical exercises that Pikachu had been doing alongside his accuracy training. 10 laps in the morning, followed by 5 minutes of rest. They would spar for a little bit because between the two of them, only Pikachu had actual battle experience thanks to being wild for who knows how long. Once the spar was over, they'd split for the evening.

Pikachu would practice aiming his electricity for the rest of the afternoon. Not only would this help his accuracy, but it'd also get him used to expelling large amounts of electricity back to back. As a side benefit, this would increase the amount of electricity his cheeks could store.

He knew that the Cleffa line was built to be tanks thanks to the Pokédex, but he would still prefer to not have Cleffa take damage if he could avoid it. So, now that Cleffa was old enough to take a hit without snapping like a twig, he was going to regularly spar with Pikachu and get used to the flow of an actual battle. He needed to get used to taking hits before his first real battle.

Once Cleffa could deal actual damage, Pikachu could start to practice using Reversal. In their last wild Pokémon battle it had taken an entire 30 seconds to charge up.

After the spar, they would split up to individually train in separate locations. Just in case Cleffa summoned up an earthquake..

Once they'd separated, Cleffa would practice metronome and get used to its variety of effects. Ash hoped that a couple poison moves would show up just so that Cleffa could build a tolerance to poison before they got to Koga's gym.

Ash put Cleffa down on the ground, "All right, time for your morning laps around the clearing. This time, Pikachu don't start using quick attack until after the fifth lap. You need to be fast without the enhancement, too."

* * *

While the Pokémon were doing their laps, Ash was keeping a close eye on their surroundings. Although poachers rarely came to this part of Kanto since there was nothing but common Pokémon in the area, a trainer could never be too careful when they had a rare Pokémon like Cleffa in their party.

He wanted to get this habit started early so that he wasn't caught off guard in places near more popular cities. Like Celadon, for example. Celadon was known for having the most "Missing Pokémon" reports filed in the entire Kanto region. Something that Gym Leader Erika didn't seem the least bit interested in solving.

The sound of footsteps behind him startled Ash. He quickly turns around, prepared to throw a punch if the source was too close.

As Ash examined the person that approached him from behind, the first thing he noticed was his yellow eyes. They weren't very common around here.

Then he noticed that his spiked-back hair looked like it had been dyed red at one point and was now slowly turning back to sandy brown or dirty blond. Ash wasn't entirely sure which. He was wearing a blue coat that covered everything from the neck down to his ankles. Also easily noticeable was a strange black device with an orange glow along the edges. This device on his left arm connected to a shoulder pad with the same color scheme.

"Who are you?" Ash asked, keeping up his guard just in case this 5'7" man turned hostile. He chose to ignore the itch in his right hand for now.

"Calm down, My name is Wes. I'm a trainer from the Orre region. I come in peace. I was just looking for a place to sit down for awhile and let my Pokémon relax." He explained, getting Ash to reluctantly relax.

"Okay, let's say I believe that. Why would you continue to approach after seeing that this clearing was occupied by a Trainer?" Ash asked, examining his expression for any significant changes.

"I could see your Pokémon training and noticed that you had a rare one, not as rare as mine are in this region, but rare nonetheless. So, I figured that I'd see if you wanted any tips from a veteran and I'd be able to help you keep an eye on the Cleffa at the same time. There was a Team Rocket sighting in this area not too long ago, you can never be too careful when you're dealing with them." Wes explained calmly and without changing his tone once. But Ash did notice that his expression briefly darkened when he mentioned Team Rocket.

"I want to see the 2 Pokémon on your belt before I even think of taking your advice," Ash stated. If his Pokémon didn't feel a certain way when they saw Wes, he wouldn't even think about listening to him.

"All right," Wes said as he grabbed a ball with each hand and enlarged them. He tossed them high into the air, allowing them to burst open and shoot a white beam of light at the floor.

From those beams of light, Umbreon and Espeon materialized. They both came out ready to battle, hairs standing up, teeth bared. Espeon's red gem was glowing with psychic energy.

They looked ready to attack Ash at the slightest sign of ill intent.

"I guess living in the Orre Region is tough as the rumors say it is. They came out ready to defend Wes," Ash thought while examining the Eevee evolution duo.

"Calm down boys, he isn't an enemy," Wes said, petting his Pokémon on the head. Espeon leaned into his touch, but Umbreon just made a low rumbling sound.

Ash could feel his excitement and joy all the same though. He'd never seen a dark type that felt happy with its trainer. The dark types in Professor Oak's ranch only felt content or brief anger when they saw their trainers.

Ash sat down in a spot that allowed him to see Wes and his Pokémon at the same time. "My name is Ash. Now, what advice did you want to share?"

Wes sat down as well, his position allowing him to see Ash and Ash's Pokémon. His Espeon curled up on his legs and close to his chest, immediately rubbing up against Wes' hand, prompting Wes to start rubbing Espeon from his head to the base of his tail that splits into 2 tails. Meanwhile, his Umbreon simply laid down next to him in a position where Wes could effortlessly reach over to scratch behind his ears without interrupting Espeon's back pets.

"The first thing you have to know if you want to be a Trainer is how to battle. Too often, young trainers will try to command their Pokémon's every move. That method is inefficient and demeaning to your Pokémon. It's as if you're saying they're incapable of winning without being guided every step of the way. Some of the best Trainers I know are the ones that take a back seat, trusting their Pokémon's intelligence and their own training enough to only speak up if the opponent's strategy is unfamiliar or something is happening that their Pokémon can't see from their current position. This strategy stops your opponent from preemptively able to prepare a counter before the attacks actually start flying," Wes explained before he opened his jacket and started to scratch his glowing chest through his black shirt.

Ash slid off the glove on his right hand and started to scratch it. He noticed that it's glowing a blinding blue this time.

"What are the odds," Wes asked while vigorously scratching his chest, "That two of 'Ho-Oh's chosen' find each other in the middle of a forest?"

"High enough to advance that bored bird's big plot, apparently," Ash responded as he continued to scratch his palm.

"Arceus damn it, this shit itches worse than my butt when Michael tricked me into wiping with poison ivy." Wes whispered to himself. Wes was half tempted to find some of that gympie gympie plant that makes people want to kill themselves because of the pain.

Ash repositioned his right hand closer to Wes out of curiosity at the fact that this only happened when another Rainbow wing was present, noticing that it started glowing even brighter in the process.

"I know this is going to sound weird, but I need to touch your chest. I have a theory I need to test." Ash asked while sheepishly rubbing the back of his head, his face burning with self-induced embarrassment. He probably sounded creepy to Wes, but it wasn't his fault. In Pallet Town the population of children was primarily male, while most adults were female. Childish pride and an instinctual desire to be independent teens made it inevitable that they would all get desensitized to making prolonged contact with other dudes. Whether that be because of them treating each other's wounds, or quickly shuffling the injured party off to the Professor without being spotted by any of the other adults.

There was no need to worry their mothers or grandparents as far as they were concerned.

"Sure, go ahead," Wes reluctantly responded. Living alone in Orre for his entire life had made him wary of physical human contact. Michael wasn't like that, but then again, he had a little sister and mother that'd make nonviolent human contact common.

Ash slowly reached towards Wes' chest. Both his hand and Wes' chest began glowing brighter and brighter as Ash bridged the gap. As Ash's hand hovered over Wes' legs, the resting Espeon intentionally rubbed up against it.

Finally, after what felt like ages, Ash touched the shirt right in front the feather and his vision went blue. Closing his eyes barely helped to lessen the light's intensity.

And suddenly, it all stopped. The bright blue light dims to pale blue, and the itches ceased as if they were never there at all.

"So, that's a thing," Ash muttered as Umbreon decided to to rub its head against Ash's hand, "the feathers resonate with each other, meaning that it could probably tell us if Ho-Oh is near. But will it only react to things related to Ho-oh, or does it just respond to the raw power Legendaries supposedly exude in waves if the leading theories are in fact true."

"You seem to know a lot about Legendaries, any particular reason why?" Wes asked as Ash stood up to walk away, Umbreon reluctantly pulling away from his hand as he did so.

"As a kid, my mom would read me thick textbooks about Pokémon Mythos and theories, so I know more than the average Kanto citizen. Although, none of them ever mentioned Ho-Oh's feathers." Ash replied before he sat down facing his incoming Pokémon.

Judging by the fact that Pikachu was carrying Cleffa back to him, Ash was almost certain that he had pushed himself past his limits just to try and keep up with Pikachu.

Pikachu held Cleffa out for Ash to grab, but when Ash reached out with his right hand Pikachu flinched back and batted it away with his tail before using that tail to gesture at Ash's left hand

"Fine, fine, whatever," Ash said before Pikachu gently sat Cleffa on the palm of his hand.

Once Ash had a firm grip on Cleffa, Pikachu scurried back to where they were doing their laps.

"You did better than my expectations, you're still new to physical exercise after all. It was probably especially difficult for you on those short stubby legs. I'm proud of you," Ash told Cleffa, who was currently nuzzling Ash's chest.

"Hey, Wes. I've been meaning to ask for awhile, but what's with that device on your arm?"

Wes froze up momentarily, "It's a device programmed to only capture Shadow Pokémon, even ones owned by a trainer. Back in Orre, we call this the Snag Machine Mark 2."

"Shadow Pokémon? I've never heard of those before." Ash responded, while turning around to face Wes.

"Good, that means you never encountered Team Cipher. If you want the exact science, you'd need to ask Professor Krane and Lily, Michael's mom, about it. But as far as I understand it, Shadow Pokémon are Pokémon that artificially had their hearts 'closed.' They have all their unimportant memories and every emotion siphoned out of them, leaving them as soulless machines that can only fight. They're mentally conditioned to obey every order given even if it goes against basic self preservation for that species. This process has 2 major flaws that Team Cipher never found out how to fix though: they lose their regular moves, being replaced by shadow moves, and it's reversible. Shadow Pokémon can be cured if you show them love and let them mingle with other Pokémon. They'll slowly regain their moves, and eventually they'll regain the ability to feel emotions." Wes lectured. It was almost like he had given that speech many times before.

"I think I understood all that, but how does it steal from other trainers?" Ash inquired. He sat Cleffa down in his lap, whose eyes were shut and was lightly snoring.

"The snag machine turns any Pokéball it throws into a snag ball. This ball overrides the link between a Pokémon and its Pokéball, allowing it to be captured. You can reprogram a regular Pokéball to behave like a snag ball, but in Orre doing it by hand is too expensive and requires more trial and error than it's worth. It was much more cost effective in the long run for Team Snagem to build a machine that can reprogram the Pokéballs. Team Snagem developed one that could capture any Pokémon, but I stole it and blew their base up before I snagged the snag machine for myself. Then after I caught every shadow Pokémon and sent Team Cipher into hiding, I gave it to Professor Krane for him to reverse engineer. He took it one step further while I was on the run from Team Snagem, making a device that'd identify Shadow Pokémon and only work on them. No longer would we have to rely on Rui, my girlfriend, to see the aura around a Shadow Pokémon. This second snag machine was given to Michael, who would rise up to the occasion at a young age, stopping Cipher while I was preoccupied running away from my old gang. He would save my butt 2 years later, moments before Team Snagem managed to send me over a cliff. They had managed to wear down my team through sheer numbers, so I was helpless at that moment. He dragged my exhausted party and I back to Krane, but on the way there, we got sidetracked by a certain bird we both know. After that, we went back to the lab and received news that a Cipher Admin and her grunts had fled to Kanto when our backs were turned, carrying all of their research with her. We all knew that more Shadow Pokémon would be created here, so Krane made me another snag machine for this mission and we came as soon as the first ship arrived, " Wes answered the question, talking his lungs to near empty in the process, with some added backstory. He felt the sudden and strange desire to explain his entire history to someone he met twenty minutes ago.

It took a long time for Ash to respond after that information dump. It was a lot to take in all at once.

"That's a lot to take in," Ash replied. A device that could steal any Pokémon. Pokémon that are turned into brutal killing machines. And the people responsible were somewhere in Kanto.

"Yeah I know. I know this is sudden, but I need to ask you for a favor. Let me come with you on your Journey for now or at least let me help you train. We have reason to believe that Cipher and Rocket are teaming up now and Team Rocket was just in this area. I have a hunch that there are other members of Rocket and maybe some from Cipher nearby. They may have a way to steal Pokémon, Cipher may even have Shadow Pokémon again. A crime organization could benefit from both after all. This is about the safety of you and your Cleffa, you aren't strong enough to face a Cipher grunt or Shadow Pokémon yet. Team Cipher isn't afraid to kill."

Ash sat there deliberating Wes' request. The opportunity to be trained by someone strong enough to repel a crime organization single handedly was invaluable and he'd have to have been a fool to pass that up.

To make it even more tempting, his Pokémon would be protected by that person and if something happened, Wes could probably deactivate the program that only lets him catch shadow Pokémon. Allowing him to immediately steal Cleffa back..


	5. Chapter 5: First Real battle

Ash and Wes were walking through Viridian forest, making their way to the city of stone: Pewter City. Supplies were still abundant, so they had no need to stock up on food or potions before they left Viridian City.

The only noteworthy thing that had happened so far was Ash remembering to register for the Pokémon League. He didn't do it during those two weeks he was there because he thought he wouldn't be moving anywhere for a while.

They'd been traveling in relative silence, the only noise coming from the wild Pokémon, the Pikachu on Ash's shoulder and the Cleffa in his arms. He was letting the young Cleffa enjoy the world while he still can be safely outside of his Pokéball. After learning about the snag machines and potential snag balls, Ash had decided to not let Cleffa out in or near any major cities. That'd be like holding up a giant sign for Team Rocket and Team Cipher saying, "Rob us, Rob us."

Ash was the first to try breaking the tentative silence. "Sooooooo, where are the rest of your Pokémon?"

It seemed odd that a man who had single handedly, temporarily defeated a crime syndicate would walk around with only 2 of his Pokémon on his person.

Wes hesitated for a moment before he decided to answer. "I left the strongest Pokémon with Rui. Her safety is very important to me and my close friends. Krane has the rest of them, leaving him unprotected is never a good idea. He got kidnapped once and we don't want that to happen again."

Ash understood. The world was full of dangerous people and Pokémon. He was going to see about getting his mom a Pokémon for her own protection. After all, Professor Oak wasn't always in Pallet Town, so depending on him and his team to keep her safe wasn't a good or smart idea. It'd have to be a Pokémon with a lot of power and patience; his mom was a very active and spontaneous woman who liked to rearrange furniture when her nervousness has passed a certain point.

Ash heard a bush rustling and turned his head towards the noise. He did this just in time to notice a kid in an old, black samurai helmet with a yellow, plastic U-shaped decoration on it rushing at him. Did I forget to mention that he had a metal sword?

The kid unleashed a battle cry as he swung his sword towards Ash's stomach.

Ash stumbled back in shock. "Is he actually trying to kill me?"

The blade fell short by less than an inch, making Ash's Cleffa sigh in relief.

The kid grunted as he swung his sword again, this time in an upward slash.

Just as the metal blade was about to connect with Ash's body, Wes intercepted and caught the sword by its blade with only 2 fingers and a thumb. He quickly jerked his hand back, disarming the kid and making him stumble forward at the same time. This just so happened to put him in a perfect position for Wes to grab his face and slam him to the ground.

"Who sent you?" Wes growled as he forcefully held the kid's head against the dirt. "Was it Cipher?"

The kid whimpered as his helmet was ground into the earth and his head was smashed against the thin layer of cloth between his likely thick skull and the shiny plastic exterior.

"N-Nobody sent me! I just wanted to challenge the kid! I do this with all the Pallet Town Trainers! Please don't hurt me!" The little boy was quivering now, ready to burst into tears at any moment.

Ash chanced a glance at Wes' face and what he saw mildly disturbed him. Upon Wes' face sat a smirk. Not just a normal smirk, either. This was the type of smirk that would send old school movie villains running away.

"Oh really," Wes whispered before turning towards Ash, "If you fuck up his fodder without losing a single Pokémon, I'll get you a snag machine of your own. If you lose 1, but still win… you get a baby Skarmory later."

A smirk tugged at Ash's lip, and though it paled in comparison to the one Wes had and was lacking the same intimidation factor, it made up for it with something Wes just couldn't place.

"I have nothing to lose, so I might as well battle the kid," Ash thought aloud. He took off his hat and stared at it. "Mom didn't raise an idiot."

Delia had raised Ash and Gary to always take the offers that objectively benefited them more than the other party. She also told them to quit while they're ahead, but that gambling advice probably went over their heads.

Ash flipped his hat around so that the bill of it was facing the opposite direction. He slowly sat the hat on his head, remembering what his mom had said moments before she gave her white and red hat with a stylized green 'L' on the front to him on his 10th birthday.

"Whenever a battle gets serious, remember to turn your hat around. You don't need anything obscuring your view."

"Hey Pikachu, do you want to handle this?" Ash asked, getting his answer in the form of Pikachu pointing down to Cleffa.

"Ah, you want Cleffa to get used to battling other Pokémon."

Ash gently sat Cleffa down on the ground. "Alright, I know you can beat this guy. Just remember what Pikachu taught you about battling."

Cleffa nodded in understanding before turning around with a 'fierce' look of determination.

Meanwhile, Wes was pulling the Kid up to his feet. "Do you have a name or do I have to keep calling you 'Samurai wannabe' in my head?

"I-I-It's Jack"

"Get your Pokémon out, you're wasting daylight." Wes stated as he let the kid go.

The kid stumbled for what seemed like a minute and a half before he could regain his balance. Once this occurred he reluctantly turned away from Wes to face Ash. As Wes looked on, he noticed a spider crack in the wannabe's helm.

Wes turned his head towards Ash. "You only get to use Metronome more than once. Pound and charm are only allowed to be used once in this battle."

"Alright, my luck is pretty good. And what is the probability of getting a move with Metronome that makes Cleffa faint?"

Wes snorted. "More than zero, so the probability is high enough to be worried."

Ash chose to ignore Wes as Jack tossed his Pokéball into the air. It split open and blasted the ground with a white energy beam. From this beam of energy, a bipedal Pokémon was formed. It had a wide, dull brown body and its body was divided into five segments by thin lines. On top of its head was a large pair of gray, spiky pincers. Those pincers were supposedly strong enough to shatter logs and lift at least twice a Pinsir's weight . In its mouth were many long, flat teeth arranged horizontally and it had triangular eyes. Its legs were short and thick, while its arms were long and thin. It had three claws on each hand and foot; two of its toes faced forward and one backward. This let it get to the treetops in order to rest while cold nights left it immobile.

"A Pinsir, that's interesting. Maybe this will be an entertaining battle after all."Wes thought as Pinsir tapped its Pincers together a couple times. The noise created by this actioniwas similar to the sound of teeth chattering, but 20 times louder.

* * *

Ash made the first move. "Get in close and pound that Pinsir in the eye!"

Cutting its field of vision in half would make the upcoming battle much easier for Cleffa to handle.

Cleffa leapt into the air, clearing the small distance between him and his foe in less than thirty seconds as his stubby right arm began to glow a blinding white.

"Snatch it out of the air with your pincers! It can't dodge you now that it's airborne!" Jack yelled to his Pinsir, making Ash's eyes widen.

If Cleffa had been a Clefairy already, he could have used his wings to float out of the way. But he wasn't a Clefairy yet, which meant he had to do this the old fashioned way. As Cleffa fell towards the massive spiked claws, now glowing with their own white light, he pulled his arm back.

"Let it almost catch you, then hit the base of the pincer on your left," Ash commanded. He was hoping to take it out of commission and stop it from using Vice Grip again.

Cleffa continued to fall towards impending pain, his short reach meaning that he had to almost crash into the Pinsir before he could hit it with his arm. But as soon as the blow actually connected, the Pinsir was knocked several feet to the side. Unfortunately for little Cleffa, the force of the blow spun Pinsir and it slammed into the other pincer, sending him tumbling along with it.

"Cleffa!" Ash yelled as the Pinsir forced its chela to wrap around the Cleffa.

He shrieked as Pinsir's grip tightened even more than before, preventing Cleffa from squeezing or wildly squirming his way out of it.

Ash thought fast. "Cleffa, calm down! Ignore the pain for a second and use Charm to weaken his grip."

Cleffa ceased his struggling and started glowing pink. With a heartfelt cry, Cleffa shot a small pink heart down at Pinsir. He did all of this with an innocent smile on his face.

The pain lessened enough for Cleffa to not scream anymore, causing both Ash and Pikachu to sigh in relief.

"Toss it at that tree!" Jackordersed while pointing at the tree on Pinsir's right.

"Use Metronome, quickly!" Ash yelled as Pinsir bent over, preparing to jerk his head towards the tree and release it's vice-like grip. Pinsir tossed Cleffa at the tree, tearing two of his thorns out of Cleffa's body in the splashed onto the ground as Cleffa rocketed towards the trees. Cleffa didn't make a sound during this, being too busy summoning up his power to react to the injuries.

Ash could feel the adrenaline racing through his body. It felt like electricity was striking every nerve in his body at the same time. The thrill of battle was making his heart roar and pound in his ears. It was exhilarating!

Cleffa waved his glowing arm stubs, and his eyes flashed white once before a transparent, violet sphere of energy with blue electricity arcing across it appeared in front of his mouth. This energy caused Wes's feather and Ash's feather to glow a darker shade of blue and create a burning sensation.

Ash silenced a scream as he clasped his left hand over the back of his right hand. The pain intensified every second, making Ash feel like he had dunked his hand in acid after less than a minute.

Meanwhile, Wes was grasping his chest like a man about to have a heart attack. He tried to pull the feather off his chest, but it didn't budge a single centimeter. "Damn it, stupid feather. You can't go crazy for no reason like this!"

Back with Cleffa, the violet sphere reached its maximum size right before he fired it. Strangely, the ball turned into an energy beam as soon as it was released.

The violet beam narrowly missed Pinsir as Cleffa's back slammed into the tree. The crash knocked the beam further away from Cleffa's target and redirected the blast into the several trees behind it. The trees began to shrivel up or turn to stone. There didn't seem to be a distinct reason why one outcome happened instead of the other. What they all had in common was that they all collapsed under the force of gravity moments later. The withered trees bent forwards, looming over Jack's scared form, and the petrified leaves crashed to the ground with heavy thuds.

If Ash had been able to pay attention to the puncture wounds created by the thorns on Pinsir's horns and Cleffa slamming into the tree, he'd have seen the holes closing and bruises vanishing.

However, Ash wasn't focusing on any of the environmental damage. All he saw was that Cleffa was okay and that his feather was no longer actively making him wish for death or dismemberment.

As soon as Cleffa was back on his feet, Ash told him to use Metronome again. Once again, Cleffa waved his glowing arm stubs, and his eyes flashed white once before a ball of orange colored flames slowly formed in front of his mouth.

"S-S-Stop it before it has a chance to fire it!" Jack yelled. The Pinsir lumbered towards its foe, the tumble having done more damage to it than the previous Pound attack did.

It was a race against time. Either Cleffa would finish charging his attack, or Pinsir would grab him and toss him again. If Cleffa were to get tossed, he'd miss and probably start a forest fire that Espeon would have to snuff out with his psychic powers.

The feathers glowed with a blinding blue light again and both holders started scratching at the location of their feathers.

"Cleffa, you can't afford to miss this time! End this battle with a flaming blast of Sacred Fire!" Ash shouted before internally thinking, "That move is said to belong to Ho-oh and Entei. It's making the feather on my right hand react like it did when I first found Wes. Which probably means that the last move Cleffa summoned belonged to a legendary, but which one is known for violet energy beams?"

Wes started thinking to himself as well. "We need to hit up the game corner because he's either the luckiest person in the world or every place Ash goes to for a battle is the unluckiest. He not only got Oblivion Wing and Sacred Fire, but he also got them back-to-back. "

Jack changed his mind as soon as he felt the wave of heat being emitted from the small ball of flames that was 7 feet away from him. "Pinsir, Dig down and avoid it. The heat will hurt you even if you don't get hit by the flame itself!"

The Pinsir nodded once before digging his hands into the ground and heaving up a large chunk of stone.

"Fire it now!" Ash yelled to Cleffa as he scratched at his hand. If Pinsir got underground and managed to avoid the Fire type move, it'd be free to attack Cleffa from below. Then it could grab Cleffa with its Pincers and squeeze him until he passes out.

The fire unleashed one final burst of heat that only Jack and Pinsir felt before Cleffa hastily unleashed the ball of flames on Pinsir.

Pinsir's eyes widened tremendously and it began to hurriedly dig into the ground, tossing up as much dirt and stone as it could as if its life depended on it. Instinctually, it knew that those flames are too strong for it. Every fiber of his being was yelling for it to not get hit directly by the orb of flames, to not be within the blast radius of it at all.

The flames flew over the Pinsir's head, making it sigh and wipe the sweat off his face.

BOOSH!

Unfortunately for the Pinsir, it hadn't dug deep enough to avoid the flames entirely, just the direct hit.

It hadn't dug deep enough to avoid the orange pillar of roaring, swirling flames either, and the pillar quickly engulfed the hole that Pinsir had dug out.

Jack fled from the quickly expanding conflagration by running back into the forest and hiding behind a tree.

"It's a good thing that those trees were already dead," Wes thought as he used his arm to shield his eyes from the bright light. Strangely enough, the heat still didn't bother him.

"Hopefully this light doesn't summon up another Spearow flock," Ash thought as he pulled his hat over his eyes. Hedoidn't think another Pidgey flock would show up to save him this time, and there was no way Pikachu could take them all down. It'd have to be raining for him to have a chance and he'd probably need to absorb some lightning too.

For 15 minutes, the fire raged on. The only sound the battlers and Wes could hear was the deafening crackling of the flames.

After what felt like forever to Jack, the flames started to diminish. The once proud and blazing inferno sputtered until it was nothing but spread out clumps of smoldering orange embers. It finally died after slowly crawling across the blackened and scorched earth it had created. There was no more vegetation in this area anymore, and its return was very unlikely.

Ash slowly walked over to the charred five foot deep pit, peering over the edge to see a passed out Pinsir that was lightly burnt, smoking and partially covered in blackened dirt.

"Hey Jack, you should come recall this Pinsir!" Ash shouted as he jumped down into the hole. He quickly swiped the hot dirt off of Pinsir and wrapped his arms around it, idly noticing that he was hot enough for the heat to be felt through his gloves.

Ash started to lift the Pinsir, but didn't manage to lift it higher than his waist. Seeing that this would make climbing back up to the surface a troublesome task, he set Pinsir down by the wall of the pit. After leaping out, he grabbed onto Pinsir and started to lift him out of the hole.

Wes grabbed his ankles to stop Ash from slipping into the pit by mistake.

The dirt was hot against his skin, but the adrenaline was dulling his ability to feel it. All he was focused on was lifting Pinsir out of this hole before the superheated dirt damaged or stripped away more of his skin.

Once the Pokémon reached the halfway point, Ash was able to get on his knees instead of laying on his stomach. This is also the moment where Wes let go of his ankles, believing that Ash was competent and strong enough to not fall down from this position.

With one final, mighty heave, Ash pulled Pinsir out of hole and landed on his back while Pinsir came crashing down on his chest.

Jack ran over with Pinsir's Pokéball before whispering, "Return!" The ball shot out a red beam of energy, and recalled Pinsir. "You did a good job buddy, now take a long rest."

Ash stood back up and walked over to his Cleffa and Pikachu, the latter holding the former's arm stubs while the former jumped up and down.

He took a knee in front of Cleffa and turned to face him. "Great job dealing with that Pinsir. You have no idea how proud of you I am. Do you think you can take down his other Pokémon too?"

Cleffa yawned before attempting to flex his arm stubs like a human does when they try to show off their muscles.

Ash could feel his fatigue, but didn't have the heart to deny his Pokémon's desire to continue fighting.

"Very well, go ahead and wrap this up," Ash whispered to Cleffa.

Cleffa walked forward as Jack tossed his final Pokéball into the air. From this beam of white energy, a Metapod appeared.

Ash facepalmed. "Why didn't he send that out first. Now this is going to feel so anticlimactic."

"Alright, just use Metronome on it before it hardens." Ash said, not even trying to hide how irritated he was. Metapod couldn't even move! That's why their parents stuck them under a tree branch as soon as they evolved!

Even Cleffa looked annoyed as he waved his glowing arm stubs. His eyes flashed white once before a thick black haze rolled out of his mouth.

This haze hits Metapod, but nothing happened. As quickly as it came, the smoke cleared from the area and Jack gave his Metapod a command.

"Use Harden!"

Ash groaned as Metapod began to glow a greenish-Whitish color.

Cleffa waved his glowing arm stubs and his eyes flashed white once before a light blue flame appeared in front of his mouth.

The wave of heat smacked everyone in the clearing, immediately making all of them sweat buckets. Not even Wes and Ash were immune to the heat of this flame.

"You've got to be shitting me," Wes thought as his feather and Ash's feather once again took on a light blue glow and started to simulate a burning sensation.

For Ash, It instantaneously went from feeling like a lit match on his skin to feeling like he shoved his hand into a bonfire.

For Wes, it instantly went from feeling like the lit matchstick itself to feeling like somebody threw a flaming log on his chest.

Jack's eyes nearly popped out of his head before his expression switched to pure terror.

"I choose life!" Jack yelled as he returned his Metapod to its Pokéball and started sprinting away as fast as his feet could carry him. He was running away like a herd of Tauros was charging at him.

Cleffa slightly bent his body backwards. This action was completed just in time for the fire to be safely shot at the sky. The light blue flame became a light blue stream of flames, rocketing into the atmosphere and obliterating every cloud in the nearby sky.

"Blue Flare…" Wes muttered to himself.

Ash just stared at the sky. There were no words capable of adequately describing what had just happened. So, Ash wouldn't even try to do it. Instead, he turned to Wes and asked one question.

"When do I get that Snag Machine?"

"I-I have to make some calls once we get to Pewter," Wes responded as he dropped to his knees.

A sudden wave of exhaustion hit the two feather holders and they both found themselves laying down on the charred stone, attempting to fight off sleep.

Cleffa was right there with Ash, climbing onto his chest and quickly falling asleep, his snores vibrating Ash's chest in the process.

Ash yawned before grabbing Cleffa's Pokéball and returning him, "sleep well."

It was there in that blackened clearing where Ash and Wes pass out, leaving Pikachu to watch over them. Although, that was a pointless action when one really thought about it. There wasn't a Pokémon dumb enough to go to an area where the energies of three different Legendary Pokémon just made an appearance.


	6. Chapter 6: Encounter

Wes woke up yawning in the middle of the night, "This is the most comfortable dirt I've ever slept on. Wait, I can hear the Orre again."

After playing with his voice to get it to slip back into the Kanto dialect, he turned look at where Ash fell asleep. Ash wasn't there, and neither was his bag.

Right before he called out for Ash, the sound of music caressed his ears.

**[Insert Zelda's Lullaby]**

Still half sleep, Wes followed the song to the source. After what felt like endless walking to the mostly asleep Trainer, he found Ash sitting next to a tree surrounded by dozens of sleeping Pidgey, Rattata, and Caterpie. Rather than speak up and break Ash's focus, Wes let the soft melody wash over him. The sweet tune enraptured him and encapsulated his attention, making his train of thought come to a slow halt. The paranoia usually present behind his gaze has faded away, and for the first time in years, Wes was at peace.

Soon enough, the tune has faded away, leaving the forest with an unnatural silence. For Ash's song had lulled every nearby Pokémon to sleep, even the nocturnal foragers. Although, maybe it's for the best. If they were awake for what was about to happen, they'd almost certainly faint from the shock.

After shaking off his fatigue, Wes walked up to Ash. Carefully navigating the crowd of sleeping Pokémon, he was soon able to see that Ash's lap was occupied by his Cleffa and Pikachu.

"Why are you up so early?" Wes whispered.

Ash returned Cleffa to his Pokéball and rose to a standing position with Pikachu cradled in his arms.

"I sleep in 3 hour increments, as a maximum. And If I want to sleep again, I have to wait for 30 minutes or an hour. So I woke up for one of my sleep breaks and saw that Pikachu hadn't went to sleep yet. My moving around woke up Cleffa, and he left his ball, so I decided to faint 2 Pidgey with 1 stone and play them a lullaby. Which attracted and put this group of Pokémon to sleep," Ash answered with a whisper.

Wes yawned again before asking another question, "Where did that Ocarina come from and how can you play it so well? That instrument is pretty rare, so there aren't many people that could have taught you."

"I'm not completely sure how I learned to play an Ocarina. I don't remember being taught, and my mom is inept with any instrument that requires her to blow it, so she couldn't have taught me," Ash answered, while staring at the instrument in his hand.

The Ocarina was small enough for Ash to wrap an entire hand around it, and appeared to be made of a smooth, silver plastic. Except for the mouthpiece, the lower half was gold, but the part that Ash wrapped his lips around was made with a blue crystal. On the body, there were tiny words etched into the plastic, although some of them have been worn away through the passage of time. The only readable words were: 'Song awakens and calls.'

Wes snorted and barely managed to stop himself from laughing because of how Ash phrased that answer.

Suddenly, a quiet boom shook the trees as the world was engulfed by a yellow aura. Ash's hand feather began tingling, and Wes' chest feather started stinging.

Ash dropped his head, only a single word managing to escape his lips, "Whyyyyy?"

In a magnificent display of power, Raikou landed in the clearing, stone caving beneath the might of his paws like mud under a Snorlax. The Lord of Thunder radiated pure power from his regal pose, while the air around him began to spark and hum.

Ash stared at Raikou.

Raikou stared back.

The only emotions Ash could glean from the mind of the Legendary Beast were boredom, anger and something that seemed to alternate between pity and amusement every other second.

"No," Ash stated as he spun on his heel and bolted into the forest.

Raikou shook his head and vanished in a yellow blur.

Raikou was back in his previous position before Wes could blink, Ash dangling from his mouth by his jacket. Displaying a great amount of control over its body, as any other Pokémon with tusks like that would have surely ripped Ash's jacket to pieces in the attempt to lift him by it.

Ash soon found himself flat on his butt, and in front of Raikou's paws.

"Did you think running from a _Raikou_ would actually work?" Wes asked, barely stopping himself from howling with laughter.

Ash sighed, "No, but I wasn't about to give up without a fight. I fought, now I reluctantly give up."

Still shaking with laughter, Wes approached the Raikou and was flipped onto the Legendary Beast's back.

The Raikou shot Ash a look, almost as if he were asking 'Any more stupid ideas?'

Grumbling the entire time, Ash reluctantly mounted Raikou and they were rushed to the outskirts of Pewter City on a streak of yellow lightning.

* * *

Leaving Rattata and Caterpie sleep in the same field as Pidgey might not have been the best idea, but Ash and Wes would be long gone before that thought crossed their minds.

* * *

Raikou stopped in a clearing and shook the duo off of his back.

Ash managed to twist his body to land on his feet instead of his face, like Wes did. Somehow, this athletic feat didn't awaken the Pikachu that Ash had cradled in his arms.

One second, Raikou had his head buried in Ash's stomach. The next, Raikou was a yellow blur in the distance.

"I didn't do anything," Ash whined while rubbing his stomach.

Wes laughed, "You ran away and made it waste time running after you. Sure, it was only .2 seconds, but it was the audacity."

* * *

(30 minutes later)

"So, that happened, right?"Ash asked while they walked towards Pewter City.

"Yep."

"It wasn't just my mind snapping from only sleeping 3 hours total, or us sharing a dream?" Ash questioned.

"Nope, I don't dream."

Ash groaned, "What even is our lives?"

"Extremely unlucky," Wes replied, "Most people can live a full life, find happiness, become a respected figure in the community, and procreate without seeing a single Legendary Pokémon. We saw 2 in less than a year, and I'd bet my Snag Machine that we see more."

"So, this is what it's like to have the attention of beings that could end the world with a tantrum. I don't like it; I wish I was the side character of my life, nothing like this ever happens to random side character 8 in my books." Ash mumbled.

"If Ho-Oh has it his way, we'll probably be the main characters of his show for _a long while_."

"…..I don't like how you said that."

"Good. I don't think either of us wants to know what an immortal Pokémon, that can infinitely revive the dead by the way, will do to keep the humans it finds interesting and entertaining around."

"I don't think Ho-oh would do that, and I choose to ignore that mental image."

"The 3 beasts can attest that the words 'Ho-oh' and 'loss' don't belong in the same sentence unless 'Can't deal with' is wedged between them."

"You're very insistent on killing my hope, aren't you? Let a teen dream of not being immortal until a God-like entity gets bored of him," Ash said.

They spent the next 5 minutes walking in awkward silence.

* * *

"….So why do you think Raikou helped us get to Pewter City?" Wes asked.

"Ho-oh probably sent Raikou. Or Raikou wanted to see Ho-oh's latest playthings," Ash grumbled.

"Let an adult dream-"

Ash cut him off mid sentence, "No, you don't get to play that card."

More awkward silence ensued.

"Since you have all this Legendary Pokémon info stored in your head; what's Raikou's story?" Wes questioned in an attempt to break the silence. After not getting a response, Wes turned to look at Ash. What he saw made him break a sweat.

Ash was practically vibrating in place with glee.

"I may have made a horrible mistake." Wes thought as Ash opened his mouth**.**

* * *

It is widely known that Raikou made its first appearance in Johto, alongside Entei and Suicune, after the Brass Tower Blaze. Ho-oh took pity upon 3 Pokémon that lost their lives in the fire and gave them new life as his 3 loyal Beasts. The identity of these 3 fallen Pokémon remain a mystery to this day, but Theorists like to believe that they were the Electric, Fire, and Water type Eevee evolutions: Jolteon, Flareon and Vaporeon.

* * *

"This means that there's a living clump of Old Farts that have existed longer than the Beast Trio!" Wes pointed out, not realizing that the Beasts were so young. Orre wasn't the best at keeping civilians updated on world events, and historical texts tended to go missing, so the exact details of the Bell Tower Blaze managed to not pop up on Wes' radar.

He thought Raikou would have been much older.

"Yeah, but that isn't even the best part of the story…" Ash replied, his face practically glowing with excitement.

* * *

Due to the proximity of Kanto and Johto, Raikou was known to often butt heads with his Legendary Bird counterpart: Zapdos. This is actually half the reason why, for the most part, the Beast trio and the Bird trio stay on opposite sides of the mountain. Ho-oh and Lugia got sick of the battles and decided to separate their Trios. Lugia moved the Birds' nests to Kanto and barred Zapdos from going to Johto again. Why were these battles so bothersome? The answer is simple.

These battles created storms, filled the air with lightning and the sound of thunder, and could go on for years at a time before the two gave up and reluctantly parted ways. Neither Pokémon managing to gain the upper hand for more than a moment, and no fight having a clear Victor, for they represented 2 aspects of the same ferocious element. He was Lightning on legs; The Lord of Thunder, and his speed made sure everyone knew it. Quite often making sonic booms when he moved at any speed faster than a leisurely trot.

* * *

"Just like electricity itself, Zapdos and Raikou were drawn to, yet repulsed by, each other. But they were unable to harm each other in any meaningful way. So, an outside force made the mountains their buffer, in hopes that the fighting and territory disputes would end," Wes mused, "So what happens now that Raikou is in Bird territory?"

"If I were a betting man, I'd bet that Zapdos starts a racket very soon," Ash responded, "And that brings me to the final main part of Raikou's story: his attitude towards people and Pokemon…."

* * *

Raikou wasn't very fond of humans, most likely because humanity killed him the first time. This is why most of Raikou's stories and sightings tended to involve other Electric type Pokemon. He saved them from physical danger, treated their ailments and had even been known to 'adopt' Pokémon until they could protect themselves.

The reason for this behavior was most likely a result of his death and resurrection. He was mortal once; before being resurrected as a Godlike force of nature, he knows what being dead is like and doesn't wish it on any Electric type.

Raikou's most famous story about defending Electric types from certain death is the story of Him vs Kyogre.

Kyogre had awoken prematurely, without Groudon to balance out his waves. The rising tide risked flooding a small valley full of his pupils, so Raikou spent 17 days and 17 nights vaporizing the water before it could get close to his wards. He worked himself to exhaustion, combating the power of a Legendary Pokémon centuries older than himself. Some say he nearly died 3 times while defending those baby Pokémon; only surviving through sheer willpower.

* * *

"Jerk to most people, friend to electric type Pokémon," Wes summarized.

"Yes, if you want to remove most of the nuance, that's an apt summary," Ash replied.

Neither one of them noticed that they had already made it into Pewter City. The discussion about Raikou's origin making their spatial awareness vanish completely.

"Stop right there!" a female voice yelled, snapping Ash and Wes out of their discussion and making them refocus on their environment.

The duo stopped dead in their tracks once they saw that the voice's origin was Pewter City's Officer Jenny. She's holding a Pokéball with one hand and a flashlight with the other.

"What are you doing walking around town at midnight?" Officer Jenny interrogated, shining the flashlight directly at Wes, "I need to see some identification too."

The League had sent out an alert to every town near Viridian for them to be on the lookout for _any_ suspicious behavior.

Ash immediately handed over his Pokédex and Wes followed suit.

Officer Jenny clicked a few buttons, pulling up Ash's Trainer info and photo, then gave his Pokédex back. Now, Wes's red Pokédex had her full attention.

Officer Jenny hummed after looking at Wes, suspicion levels sky high, she spoke with a tone conveying her suspicion, "what's a guy from the _Orre_ region doing in the Kanto region?"

Wes started to talk, "You see th-"

"I'll explain it, you just sit there and try not to look like you're going to mug somebody," Ash cut Wes off.

"It's my story!" Wes indignantly responded before sitting down and pouting.

Ash sighed and shook his head before responding, "How are you that childish? I remember what you did when you explained your story to me and if you pull that stunt again, I'm grabbing a blanket and letting you talk yourself unconscious."

Then he turned around to face Officer Jenny, "It's a long story, so I'll try to minimize the filler. Yes, he's from Orre and the League probably told you to be suspicious of any Orre Citizen on Kanto Soil, but his only reason for being here is to handle the Cipher situation….again."

A ringing sound buffeted Ash's ears moments before Officer Jenny reached into her pockets to pull out a silver and gold device that Ash immediately recognized as a Pokégear.

"I have to take this," Officer Jenny said, before shifting her gaze down towards Wes, "Don't even think about trying to sneak away."

Ash proceeded to start walking away from Wes, "I'm going to go see if this place has any good snacks, you can handle the rest of this."

"Come on, you can't just leave me with her! I need a witness!" Wes yelled as Ash increased his pace to a light jjog

* * *

The store was relatively empty; the only people there were Ash, the half asleep cashier, and a guy with Spiky brown hair. The guy with Spiky brown hair had a Geodude out, it was pointing towards a candy jar full of individually wrapped jawbreakers on a shelf that was just out of its reach.

"Hmmm," Ash said while looking at two boxes of chocolate pocky, "Is 4 extra sticks worth the extra 100 Pokédollars?"

"Not at all," A male voice said from behind Ash, making Ash reflexively swing his right fist towards the source.

"Stranger Danger!"

Ash's fist found itself crashing below the belt, bringing the man to his knees with a wheeze.

The store clerk snapped awake and gasped, "you dropped him in one punch, man!"

"Nice punch," the man squeaked.

"I am so sorry, it was a reflex-" Ash tried to apologize while helping the man back to a standing position.

"No no, I get it. It's the middle of the night and a stranger walked up behind you. I should've knew better," he replied, "I'll just get you back during our gym battle."

Ash felt like kicking himself; he just punched a _gym leader_ below the belt. He should have recognized the voice, he listened to all the gym leader interviews from last year's Pokémon League!

The man rose to his feet, and for the first time, Ash looked his next hurdle in the eyes.

Before him stood Brock: The Rock-Hard Wall.

The bane of every rookie Trainer who chose a Fire or Electric type Starter Pokémon. Rumored to have a Pokémon that can sweep entire teams of 6 by itself.

Staring up at this man with great abs and a friendly aura that still commanded respect, only one thing popped into Ash's mind: "Why are you shirtless?"


End file.
